ABP VIP Exit Poll 2019: Gautam Gambhir struggles to win East Delhi seat

The official results will be announced on May 23 but would be interesting to note whether BJP would do a repeat of 2014 when it swept all seats, or will voters in East Delhi give the mandate to one of its nemeses.

Gautam Gambhir while campaigning in East Delhi. (PIC/PTI)

New Delhi: In ABP News’ VIP Exit Poll, former cricketer and BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir is seen struggling to clinch the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat. However, the exit poll has also found that he still holds the edge in the prestigious battle against AAP’s Atishi and Congress Arvinder Singh Lovely. According to the Exit Poll, Gambhir may face a neck-and-neck battle with Lovely for the first spot. The ABP News-Nielsen Exit Poll aired on Sunday showed the BJP winning five out of the 7 seats in the national capital. AAP and Congress were seen getting a seat each. The blockbuster battle for the East Delhi seat was murkier during the entire political campaigning with AAP’s Atishi alleging that a pamphlet containing "obscene and derogatory" remarks against her was allegedly distributed in the constituency by her rival Gambhir. The former India batsman sent a notice to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Atishi demanding that they withdraw the allegation and tender an unconditional apology over the matter. ABP VIP Exit Poll 2019: Modi triumphs again in Varanasi Social media also seized upon the controversy and the hashtag #IStandWithAtishi had quickly gathered mileage with thousands of tweets denouncing the pamphlet. Atishi breaking down while discussing the pamphlet pulled in huge support from women. Gambhir also shored up support from his former colleagues VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh who vouched for his clean image. Prior to the ugly episode, Atishi Marlena, had filed a criminal complaint against Gambhir, accusing him of enrolling himself as a voter in two constituencies. Other AAP leaders had constantly alleged that the BJP's parachuted candidate was an 'arrogant outsider' and possessed no knowledge of the area he was contesting from. All throughout the poll campaign, Gambhir was seen on a sticky wicket, dodging accusations from his trenchant opponent. However, the official results will be announced on May 23 but would be interesting to note whether BJP would do an encore of 2014 when it swept all seats, or will voters in East Delhi give the mandate to one of its nemeses.